AIS Level One and Level Two squads named

The AFL has nominated 62 of the nation’s best young footballers to be included in the sixteenth AIS-AFL Academy intake.

This is the second intake of the expanded two-tier model. All players will receive an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship.

Level One will be coached by AFL Engagement and Talent Coordinator Chris Johnson. Level One players were selected from the recent NAB AFL Under-16 Championships that were held in Sydney. The squad of 30 will tour New Zealand in January. One Melbourne based member of the World XVIII team Duom Dawam has been named in this squad.

Players in the Level Two squad will turn 18 during 2013 and will be eligible to be drafted. The squad of 32 will be managed by AIS-AFL Academy High Performance Coach Michael O’Loughlin and will return to Europe in April 2013.

AFL General Manager National and International Development Andrew Dillon said the AIS-AFL Academy program prepares young players for the elite level.

“The AIS-AFL Academy’s two-tiered model allows the players to receive specific high-performance training and guidance as they prepare for the prospect of joining an AFL list.

“The program is not only about on-field skills. Players are exposed to industry-best practice in areas such as nutrition and recovery while the opportunity to travel and experience our game on the international stage is unique to the AIS-AFL program,” he said.

Acting AIS Director Phil Borgeaud said the AIS is proud of its record and tradition of partnering with sports to develop talented young athletes.

“The AIS-AFL Academy has produced many talented players who have gone on to excel at the elite level of the game and I am confident this will continue in the future.

'The Australian Government is committed to increasing participation in the AFL at the grassroots level, providing almost $1 million in participation funding annually,” Mr Borgeaud said.

The AIS-AFL Academy is part of a commitment made by the AFL and the Australian Sports Commission, through the Australian Institute of Sport, to support Australian football’s best young players with their football and education development.

The squad will take part in a non-residential program allowing scholarship holders to remain at home to complete their secondary schooling.

Both squads will conduct their first camps in Melbourne during Toyota AFL Grand Final Week.

Just hope when the level two group 'return' to Europe they do better job than the match played in France this year. Promotionally that was a disaster by all accounts, four people and a 'horse' watched that game. If one of these matches isn't played in Denmark along with an International between two European nations the AFL organisers deserve a swift and well aimed kick in the backside :-)

They talk about the players being given the chance to play on the 'international stage'. Terrific, as long as the stage isn't out front of an empty theatre.

From todays The Age.....Dawam - who rucked for the World team at the AFL's under-16 carnival last month, pestering coaches Chris Johnson and Xavier Clarke for constant advice - is determined to make the most of. His ruck work caught eyes in Sydney, as well as his competitiveness and desire to know more, more and more about what he could do to get better.

''We finished one game and by the time we got back to the hotel it was about 9.30pm. I was ready to go to bed, but I heard a knock on the door and it was Duom,'' said Johnson, who coaches the AIS squad, too. ''We sat there for about 45 minutes talking about how he could improve for the next game, and he was just hungry for information. We'd tell him something, and as soon as he got back out on the ground he'd be trying it.''